The Making of “Lights”
Shmuel Klitsner's insider perspectives on making a Hanukkah classic.
Searching for the Vatican’s Menorah
Tzvi Sinensky on the lost Menorah, the Vatican theory, and the ideology of the search and mythology.
Does a Women’s Friday-Night Prayer Belong As Part of Menorah Lighting?
Yaakov Jaffe advocates adding a song to those sung while lighting Hanukkah candles.
On Candlelight
Media culture scholar, Matt Sienkiewicz, reflects on the Maccabeats phenomenon and the group's first viral smash.
“In Every Generation They Rise Up Against Us to Destroy Us”: How We Keep...
Malka Simkovich on the Hasmonean victories and the truth behind the Hanukkah miracle.
Masculinity and the Hanukkah Hero: Toward a New Interpretation of Biblical Gevurah
The Maccabees were renowned as gibborim. But what exactly is gevurah, and what does it mean for dicussions about manhood and Zionism? Tzvi Sinensky uses Hanukkah as a starting point for this contemporary conversation.
Darkness Will Envelop Me: A Meditation on Hanukkah
Dr. Devora Steinmetz offers a meditation on the significance of Hanukkah and darkness.
Shnei Zeitim: A Hanukkah Piyyut About the Separation of Powers
Yitzhak Szyf explores the piyyut of Shnei Zeitim, a once well-known addition to the Shabbat Hanukkah services that subtly critiques the Hasmoneans for usurping the kingship while serving as priests.
The Fourth Chapter of Avot as an extended reflection on Epicurean Philosophy
In the spirit of Hanukkah, Yaakov Jaffe offers an intriguing thesis tying together a series of Mishnayot in the fourth chapter of Pirkei Avot: they are all responding to various aspects of Epicurean philosophy.
Cultural Migrations of a Hanukkah Pilgrimage
Elli Fischer explores the ideological components of developments in Hanukkah traditions.
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